A new poll out of Montana shows that voters in the state would rather see the medical marijuana law “fixed,” rather than repealed, by a margin of 57% to 31%. When only given the choice between a repeal and doing nothing, a slight majority favor a repeal.

To me, the most interesting part of this story comes with this paragraph near the end:

“I feel it needs to be repealed,” said Ella Schultz of Deer Lodge, a retired accountant. “I’m anxious about the children, about the people that are smoking it in their house or having it in their cookies. Marijuana is the first step. Montana is going to be a big crime place. The mob is going to come in.”

This woman is anxious about people who smoke in their homes and eat marijuana cookies? Because that leads to the mob? This is a prime example of the silly misinformation we are battling. She can spout her opinion about medical marijuana while having no knowledge of the subject whatsoever.

While it remains to be seen whether the Montana legislature will overturn a voter-approved law, one thing is for sure: there are a lot of people like Ella Schultz of Deer Lodge in every state. They feel they have the right to deny sick people the option of medical cannabis because they know better than everyone else.

But no one has the right to deny a sick person medication. That doesn’t seem like it should be a hard concept to grasp.

- Joe Klare